Ad Astra: To the Stars
by LinkLover123
Summary: Shiro finds an unlikely prisoner in the wreckage of the Galra ship: a long blonde haired Lunarian princess from a kingdom long destroyed. Serenity seems to know Shiro from his days as the "Champion," but what more does she know? Princess Serenity x Shiro
1. Chapter 1: The Prisoner

**Chapter 1: The Prisoner**

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The wreckage of the Galra's ship was vast and unforgiving. It was a dark scene for Shiro. Here lay the place that had held him captive for over a year in ruin. Bits of memories resurfaced in his mind as he tried to submerge them back under is consciousness. He inhaled deeply. Now was not the time to go into another episode.

Pidge, not having the same experiences with the ship, was eyeing the wreckage with an analyzing eye. Her goal was to search for the master control board to gather information from its database. She spotted it in ruins at the front of the ship. The Green Paladin grimaced. Hopefully, she would be able to get some information about her brother and father from that. Pidge hastily hovered to the front and began assessing the condition of the machine.

"This looks like the master control board, but there's no power," Pidge said disgruntledly.

"All you need is power?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, but one that's compatible with Galra tech." the Green Paladin replied.

Turning to stare at his right hand, Shiro willed for the prosthetic weapon he awoke with one day to draw the necessary power. His fist glowed with a neon pinkish-purple hue similar to that of the Galran empire. The Black Paladin shoved the disgust that was rising up. He put his palm on the dashboard and infused the master control board with his energy.

"This should keep it running long enough for you to get the prisoner logs," Shiro said definitively.

The machine booted up and gave a series of whining beeps, as if annoyed that its slumber was disturbed. Indeed, this machine still had some fight left in it. Pidge's hope surge; she was this much closer to finding her long lost family.

Standing behind Pidge, Shiro crossed his arms and watched as she quickly got through the firewalls and hacked into the Galra's ruined battleship. He smiled wistfully. It was like having Matt back at his side at Kerberos. The warrior or "Champion," according to the rescued prisoners had called him, thought back to the memories he had of his time in the ship. Did he really turn into a bloodthirsty warrior who had hurt his own friend? Before he could get lost in his thoughts, he heard a slight groan of metal behind him.

"Hey Pidge, did you hear that?" Shiro inquired. Not looking away from the screen, Pidge gave a slight hum of acknowledgment but did not add anything further than that. As Shiro had nothing to do other than look blankly over Pidge's shoulder, he decided that he could be more useful searching for the source of that sound.

"Pidge, I'm going to check out that noise in the back," Shiro said more to the air than to Pidge. She gave a dismissive "mmhmm" and went on with her work. Pidge had probably forgotten to eat meals or even sleep when she was absorbed in her work like this.

Hovering above the wreckage of the ship, memories of his imprisonment resurfaced. Of his begging for the Galra to let him and Pidge's family go. Of his screaming at Galra warriors who dragged him away to his prison cell. Would these flashbacks ever stop?

Shiro shifted his focus to pinpointing the location of the sound he heard earlier and found a hallway. The corridor was slanted to the right but otherwise intact with rooms on the one side of it. Just then, he heard the same sound of metal groaning in a room three doors down from where he was. He rushed to the room and put his hands on the double doors, ready to pry them open, when he remembered that this was an enemy ship that they had only destroyed a couple of days ago. There was a chance that there lay one of Zarkon's soldiers in the room, weak, but potentially lethal. But what if it had been a prisoner like him who hadn't managed to escape when the ship went down? He willed himself into action. As the Black Paladin leading the fight to save the universe from the clutches of Zarkon, he knew he could not take the chance of leaving an innocent behind if there was a chance of rescue.

The black-and-white haired warrior grabbed the two sides of the door and pushed it in opposite directions to pry it apart. Cautiously, he positioned his body in a battle stance as he did not have a weapon on him. His eyes glanced around the room searching for any signs of life.

It was a small room, relatively the same size as his room in the castle. The ceiling looked like it had caved in as a large part of it was on the floor, leaning against the back wall. As he moved closer, the metal piece slowly slid down the wall, making the familiar noise that he had heard earlier. Their arrival had probably disturbed the already falling apart ship. Nothing more to it. Relaxing, Shiro put his guard down and was about to turn around and head back to Pidge when his peripheral vision caught sight of something.

It was a foot. There was a small bare foot sticking out from under the piece of the caved in ceiling. Shocked, the Black Paladin was on high guard yet again. Shiro stepped a few paces forward, kneeled down, and summoned the energy to his prosthetic right hand. Using his left hand, he pushed the ceiling piece off the wall carefully, to not disturb whatever lay beneath.

What he discovered startled him so much that he lost his concentration and the energy in his hand dissipated. It was a girl! A human girl at that! Or at least, what looked like a human girl. She had all the extremities in all the right places. She looked smaller than Shiro, but her size was similar to most human females. Examining her for other human-like features, he saw that the girl didn't have pointy ears like Princess Allura. What _was_ unusual, Shiro noted, was the two buns of hair sitting parallel on her head. Trailing from those buns were two long ponytails that most probably reached her knees. Her hair, strewn across the floor, was like golden strands meant to have been woven into a royal tapestry.

She wasn't wearing much, even less than what the Galran prisoners the Paladins had rescued had on. There was only a light brown, thin and long T-shirt dress that reached halfway down her thighs. The piece of clothing had probably seen better days. The bottom of the dress was torn and frayed at the hem and there were dark stains on it, some of which suspiciously resembled dried up blood. The tan color of the cloth contrasted immensely with the girl's cream colored skin.

How could a human other than the Paladins appear on a Galran ship so many light years away from Earth? But there she was, lying on her side with her hands underneath her head. She was either unconscious or dead, but upon detecting the slight rise and fall of her chest, Shiro let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he was holding.

Upon further examination, he noticed that her hands and feet were chained to the wall. With the sudden realization that this was a prisoner and definitely not one of Zarkon's loyal soldier, he hastily pushed ceiling fragment away, cursing himself for pulling a "Lance" and practically ogling an unconscious girl.

The sudden slam of the caved in a piece of ceiling against the floor made the blonde stir. Slowly, she used her arms to push off the floor and rub the sleep away from her eyes. Her eyelids unhurriedly opened and she blinked a few times before turning her head to determine what kind of situation she was in.

Shiro, at this time, was frozen on the spot for some unfathomable reason. He, whose job was to lead the Defenders of the Universe with his words, could not conjure any in his idle brain. Some leader he was. When her eyes finally locked on his own, he saw that her eyes were a clear crystalline blue. Its hue reminded him of the oceans of Earth as he had seen them from space. Before he could react, the blonde swiftly drew her knees and her hands to her body, shielding herself from him.

The only sound in the tense room was the clinking of the chains. Her crystal blue eyes darkened with fear and her breathing rate increased to the point where she was almost hyperventilating. Shiro clenched his hands in anger as his hatred surged for the Galran empire. What did they do to her? She was like an injured wild animal who had been taken from a home that was far away from these metal walls. He unclenched his fists and rose them gently above his shoulders in what he hoped to be a disarming gesture. Remembering that he still had his helmet on, he moved to take off the headgear and held it at his side.

"I'm sorry for surprising you," the head warrior said softly, "My name is Shiro and I am here to save you."

A look of recognition and something he could not distinguish flashed across her face. "S-sir Champion?" the girl wearing the tattered dress croaked. She inadvertently flinched at the sound of her own voice. It seemed like it had been a while since she used it.

Shiro's eyes widened in shock. "Champion?" he repeated the title in his head. That's what the other prisoners had called him. Were they both imprisoned in enemy hands at the same time? If so, how long had she been in here?

"Are you not the Champion who fought in this ship's underground battle arena?" she hesitantly inquired with a look of confusion on her face.

"Well, yes I am, but it's a bit complicated. I'm sorry but I don't have many memories of the time before my escape from this place," he said truthfully. Her eyes widened in shocked and her countenance shifted to an inscrutable expression that revealed some of the tumult that seemed to be swirling inside her head.

"My name is Serenity," she paused, a pained expression painting her features, "and I am a Lunarian who was captured by the Galran empire before you had come onto the ship." It seemed like she had put almost of all of her energy in delivering the one sentence. Before Shiro could ask her why she was kept separate from the other prisoners, the communicator beeped and Pidge's voice pierced the silent air.

"Shiro, there's a ship fast approaching. I don't know whether or not it's an enemy ship, but considering that it's us, it's most likely an enemy ship," Pidge said exasperatedly. By Pidge's tone of irritation, the data retrieval was probably not yet finished.

"Copy that. Pidge, I found a prisoner that had survived the wreckage but is still badly injured. I'm going to bring her back to the castle."

Shiro turned his gaze back to Serenity and hurriedly said, "it looks like we have to save this conversation for another time. We've got to go now." The blonde girl gave a hesitant nod and Shiro summoned the energy to his Galran prosthetic once again to surgically slice the shackles from Serenity's wrists and ankles. She stared at his right hand with a widened and slightly fearful gaze before pushing herself off the wall to stand up. This was, however, very difficult as she had not moved in a very long time. Her muscles strained in the last effort to keep her up but eventually gave out on her. As she lost her balance, strong arms steadied her before she could hit the ground.

Just as he was about to ask her if she was alright, her body went limp and Shiro shifted to hold both of their weights. The sudden motion of standing up after lying supine for so long probably gave a great shock to the blood circulation in her body which caused her to faint. Not wasting any time, Shiro put his arms under the back of her knees and shoulders and shot straight out of the prison cell to where Pidge was.

Carefully landing next to Pidge, Shiro saw that she was still hastily typing away at the control board and trying to gather the remaining intel on the prisoners. Hearing a whizzing noise above him, he shifted his gaze to a meteor-like object falling from the sky that was heading directly towards their location. This was the enemy ship that Pidge had warned him about.

"Pidge! What are you doing? We have to get out of here!" Shiro shouted.

Not taking her eyes off the screen, Pidge yelled back, "No! I'm not leaving! I'm staying here until I get all the information about my dad and my brother!"

Shiro stood there for a few seconds, assessing the rate at which the ship was speeding down at them, and decided that fuck it, there was no way they were going to survive if they were here like sitting ducks. The head of Voltron called the other Paladins and Princess Allura for backup and hastily made his next decision, knowing that Pidge might not forgive him for this.

"I'm sorry!" Shiro shouted sincerely and with the rescued prisoner still in his arms, he grabbed Pidge forcefully and sped out the wreckage as fast as he could manage.

Outside, he saw that the Galran ship was going to hit their location within a few moments. "Run!" Shiro roared above the sound of the plummeting enemy ship. Both Paladins used their jet packs and propelled themselves across the field. Just when they thought they were done for as the ship hit the ground and its shock wave was about to hit them, their lions came to their rescue and protected them. Moments later, the Black and Green Lions slowly rose their heads to reveal Pidge and Shiro who were kneeling on the ground. Shiro, who was still clutching the unconscious Serenity in his arms and shielding her with his body, slowly rose up.

"Our lions protected us," Shiro said.

"I didn't know they could do that," Pidge replied bewildered. When she finally took a good look at Shiro, she noticed the blonde girl in his arms and gingerly inquired, "Umm, who's that?", completely forgetting what Shiro had reported to her earlier. Right when he was about to reply, the ship that had just landed opened and a humongous mechanical monster stood in their wake. Recognizing that this was neither the time nor place to have a conversation, Shiro commanded Pidge to get in her lion as he hurried to his.

Setting Serenity down on the floor of his command room, the Voltron leader sincerely hoped that the gravity system would keep her from flying around as the Black Lion went into battle. As he controlled his lion to leap across to attack the opposing enemy, he saw that the blonde girl in the tattered dress had not slid across the floor due to the momentum of the attack. Knowing that she was now stable, he, along with the other Paladins, worked to defeat the Galran monster looming before them.

* * *

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If you like this story and want to read more, please favorite, follow, and review! Your reviews always encourage me and fill me with extreme happiness!

Pidge's name turned into "Fridge" at one point in the podfic and that had to be edited out LOLOL


	2. Chapter 2: The Protector

Shiro let a small smile grace his face as the rest of the Paladins cheered in victory. The Gladiator was defeated. The Voltron formation broke apart and everyone raced back to the castle. Dinner would surely taste extra delicious tonight.

The warriors stored their lions in their hangars and headed to the main room of the castle where Princess Allura and Coran were awaiting their return. Shiro, however, was still in the head of his lion, looking down at the sleeping woman on the floor. Carefully, he slipped his hands underneath her knees and shoulders, picked her up bridal style, and held her limp form close to his chest. He could hear her soft breathing, indicating that she was still in slumber despite the disarray of the battle that took place earlier.

With her in such close proximity, he noticed something that he hadn't caught in the chaos of their first meeting. There, in the center of her forehead, was a crescent moon turned towards the sky. The marking shined a bit as it reflected the light inside of his battle lion. Perhaps this was a mark of a Lunarian, the race that she had claimed to be. Shiro hoped that Princess Allura or Coran had some idea of where she was from.

Back at the castle where everyone else had gathered, Princess Allura asked for Shiro's whereabouts after she had realized that Voltron's leader was missing. "That's odd," Hunk replied, "I saw him getting into the hangar with the rest of us."

At that moment, Shiro entered from the corridor with Serenity in his arms. "I'm here," the Black Paladin announced, walking to where the group was huddled together. Everyone except Pidge looked at Shiro and the blonde girl with a shocked expression etched on their faces. Before he could explain himself, a chorus of voices chimed in and a barrage of question hit him.

"Who's that?"

"Where did you find her?"

"Woah, she's a beaut!"

"What-"

Princess Allura raised her right hand, indicating that it was time to be quiet, giving Shiro a chance to speak. The warrior nodded in thanks and began the retelling of the story of how he found her.

"She said that her name was a Serenity, a Lunarian who was captured by the Galran empire after I came onto the ship. I don't know how long she was held captive."

"A Lunarian?" the Altean princess said, scrunching her eyebrows together and analyzing the crescent moon on Serenity's forehead. "That's rather vague. Which moon could she have come from?"

"Before we get further into this discussion, is it alright if we put her in the healing pod for now?" Shiro asked, gesturing to the still unconscious girl in his arms.

"Oh, of course. What was I thinking?" Princess Allura said apologetically. Turning to Coran, she asked, "Coran, may you help Shiro get her to the cryogenic healing pods?"

"Of course, my Princess," Coran said as he put his hand up to a salute.

It was in these situations that they handed the reins to Coran and trusted that he would have everything in order. Shiro thought he should hand over Serenity to the Princess's attendant, but a large part of him wanted to be in her presence.

"If it's alright, I can take her to the infirmary with you," Shiro said, hoping to sound like a good samaritan with no hidden intentions. "Alright then. If you would head over this way," Coran chirped with no suspicion underlying his tone. Tired from the battle, the rest of the crew split off as well. Princess Allura headed off to the control center to search for races of Lunarians with a crescent moon on their forehead.

Pidge accompanied the Altean and ran a quick check of the prisoner logs for "Lunarian" as the search for her brother ran in the background.

"That's odd," Pidge remarked while looking at the data.

"What is it, Pidge?" Allura inquired.

"There seem to be records of only one Lunarian on board. One by the name of Shura. But then again, the prisoner logs I had obtained from the Galra ship were incomplete." the Green Paladin answered, now worried that the search for her brother and father will once again hit a dead end.

Now at the cryogenics lab, Coran hit a few keys and a tube rose from the floor. The head warrior placed the sleeping blonde girl with great care inside the cylindrical healing pod. After the case had closed, Shiro thanked Coran for his assistance and made way back to his room. Coran, who had stayed back to check the frozen patient's vital signs, noticed something very peculiar. According to the scan, her body was healing itself at a much faster rate than any species he had ever encountered. He racked his brain for any known Lunarian races that had a specialty in healing magic. This vast universe still had many surprises in store, especially after some ten millennia.

Evening arrived without any incidents other than a small fight that had broken out between Keith and Lance after the team had failed another trust exercise. Shiro tried to break up the fight from escalating any further when Coran announced through the speakers that dinner was ready. Dinner was even more rambunctious than usual with the taste of victory in their heads. After Lance had bragged about his bravery on the battlefield in an attempt to flirt with the Princess Allura, the Altean female stated with an unimpressed tone that the Gladiator was not Zarkon's ace up his sleeve and that there were still many obstacles ahead of them. Although the princess had not meant for it, the mood had died down after that. The conversation eventually lulled and everyone cleaned up their plates and returned to their rooms.

After taking a shower and dressing in his evening clothes, which consisted of a black tank top and grey boxers, Shiro lay there on his bed with his head propped up on his forearms. He started reflecting on today's events, thinking about the weight of his decisions. He still felt guilty taking Pidge away from the ship when she was trying to find out her brother and father's whereabouts but knew that if he had stalled, none of them would be here right now. His thoughts drifted to the person that he had the fortune to rescue. Was it luck or fate that had led him to find the Lunarian beneath the rubble of the wrecked battleship?

With memories of the feel of Serenity's warmth beneath his fingers, Shiro fell asleep.

* * *

Serenity could feel herself being slowly tugged out of her subconsciousness. She, however, had no desire to be brought back to reality. She much preferred to stay in darkness. Her mind and body had grown accustomed to sleeping as she had been in hibernation. But a thought made her reconsider her reluctance. She finally met the Champion after so long. The rescued prisoner never thought she would see the light of day ever again, much less the Champion, now known as the Black Paladin.

The blonde girl knew she couldn't let this "Shiro" out of her grasp again. She would have to take revenge on him tonight. The murderer.

The cryogenic pod scanned the frozen patient to assess her condition. Assessing that all injuries had healed, it whirred and beeped and set the release mechanisms in motion. The Lunarian, whose consciousness began to stir, could feel her skin temperature slowly rise. Her blue pallor transitioned into the soft, warm cream of her typical complexion. Her eyelids gently opened to reveal sapphire eyes which burned in their thirst for revenge.

Gripping the sides of the cryo pod to steady herself, the long haired girl carefully lifted a leg out of the pod and placed her barefoot softly on the floor. The feel of the cold floor sent a jarring jolt up her body and Serenity shuddered. The chilling metallic feel of her surroundings sent her mind back to the lifeless steel prison that she occupied for who knows how long. Fear wracked her body and her lungs began to constrict and expand at an alarming rate before a voice inside her head told her to calm herself. She had to think about the here and now. It wasn't a dream that she had been saved from that godforsaken prison and made it out of the Galran empire's grasp alive.

* * *

The sun was sinking beneath the horizon and the atmosphere quickly lost the warmth it had collected from the sun's rays. The increasingly chilly air wrapped around Serenity's skin like a second layer. She supposed that she should have brought a shawl because tonight was cold even by Lunarian's standards. But she had to find a hiding place, lest her head would explode. It was the evening of her eighteenth birthday, the day begrudgingly marked as her Coming-of-Age Ceremony.

If she were born as an ordinary girl, she would have probably enjoyed the preparations for an event that was dedicated to her and only her. But no, she was no ordinary girl. Serenity had been born as the first daughter of Queen Selenity, sole leader and protector of the Moon Kingdom. The Lunarian girl was the spitting image of her mother. She had heard this statement so many times from friends and other Lunarians that it felt like she was listening to a broken record. Both mother and daughter had crystalline blue eyes and pale alabaster skin. They wore their hair in two tight buns on the sides of their heads with long ponytails trailing behind them. The only difference between the two was that while Serenity's hair shined golden like rays of the sun, Queen Selenity's was a soft white like the color of their pearly moon. The blonde Lunarian was also a head shorter than her mother and her figure was not as curvacious. The teen had not yet reached the end of her adolescent stage and was awkward in places where her mother was not. Indeed, it seemed like the only proof of the pair's mother-daughter relation were their looks.

Queen Selenity held a constant air of command and gracefulness that went hand in hand. Her every move and gesture were infused with a calculated elegance that could not simply be learned, no matter how much Serenity's instructor insisted. During the council meetings, her mother could quiet a room with a mere gesture as no one dared to impede Queen Selenity speaking her mind as that was as bad as insulting the silver queen to her face. The Queen was never just a figurehead in the government. Her words of wisdom was a beacon of security in times of chaos, causing those who listened to her words to come to their senses. She was the epitome of elegance, wisdom, and beauty. How could the blonde princess live up to her mother's image? Although her beauty would be able to capture an entire room's attention, her nervous and shy nature would quickly make anyone's interest disapparate. The long-haired princess never could impose any words of wisdom upon her subjects because whenever she was put in front of a crowd, all words would melt into a giant puddle in her brain.

The Coming-of-Age Ceremony made Serenity's nerves twist tighter into a knot. It was another reminder that time was forcing her into a position that she could not fulfill. According to the custom of Lunarian royalty, one was not titled Crown Prince or Princess until their eighteenth birthday. Once tonight was over, she would be known as Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom and the next Queen of the Lunarians. The Queen-to-be did not feel like she was any step closer to be the wise and graceful royal that her mother was. She had addressed her fears to her mother a week before her birthday, but her mother had smiled in a knowing way and reassured her that these qualities came with time, practice, and patience. The young princess inwardly sighed.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder and Serenity gave a startling screech. She immediately quieted after she recognized the angry face of the intruder. It was Shura, her personal bodyguard, and attendant. Shura was an imposing woman equipped with a harsh glare. Her stature was tall, even taller than the Queen, which added to her overwhelming presence. Shura's complexion was a dark copper tone which complemented her clear violet eyes quite beautifully. She had thick, unruly white hair that she kept in a ponytail with a thick hair band. Although she did her best to keep stray strands from sticking out of her head, the hair would defiantly pop out in times of exasperation, e.g. whenever she was dealing with her defiant charge.

Currently, her eyebrows were scrunched up in a familiar, exasperated look, one which Serenity had seen ever since she could remember. Shura had been handpicked by Queen Selenity to be the princess's protector and guardian since she was an infant. The newly appointed bodyguard had graduated top of her class in the military academy at the age of fifteen. While visiting the academy to assess the future of the Moon Kingdom's armed forces, the Queen witnessed Shura making her way through a drill practice with ease. Needless to say, she was impressed with the adolescent's fighting prowess and collected composure that never wavered. The expectant mother had approached the student with the request to protect her future daughter. Shura had bowed to the point that her upper body was parallel with the floor and affirmed in a reverent tone that it would be the greatest honor she had ever been bestowed.

Now, eighteen years later, Serenity wonders if Shura still considered it an honor to be what others disdainfully deemed the royal babysitter. She knows that she was not the easiest princess to handle. She regularly skipped out on educational lessons, constantly messed up her etiquette sessions, and rarely if ever, woke up on time. It was not her fault, she would stubbornly declare. She never asked to be born a princess. No, her true dream was to explore the universe, from galaxy to galaxy. But alas, this was a dream for perhaps, a version of her in another universe. Her duty in this universe was to ascend the throne and protect the Silver Imperium Crystal, a powerful heirloom, which the Lunarians have spent a millennium safeguarding from the wrong hands.

The Silver Imperium Crystal was rumored to be one of the most powerful objects in the universe. It was capable of providing near limitless power to its wielder. Serenity herself had never even seen this oh-so-glorious crystal. Her mother said that when the time was right, the crystal would present itself to her. With her coronation encroaching upon her, Serena was worried if it was ever going to pop into existence. She was worried that the appearance of the crystal was a hidden test for her coronation, even though Shura had denied her speculations.

The moon princess had always had such a wild imagination. You would think being a princess would entail grander happenings, but you would be wrong. There were not that many Lunarians to begin with. Because of the small population, the people of the moon did not build much outside of their capital. On the outskirts of their city was nothing but a cold, ashen landscape.

In days long past, Serenity reminisced about her life on another satellite moon. One that was orbiting a specific planet called Earth. Earth looked so beautiful in her memories. A large cerulean orb dashed with strokes of green. She had read about the various animals and flora residing on Earth and wished she could have visited before the Lunarians abandoned their station there.

According to its records, some fifteen years ago, the leaders had heard whispers that the Galra were encroaching on the Lunarians' tail. Queen Selenity and her council knew that it would be disastrous to allow the crystal to fall into enemy hands, especially those as bloodstained as the Galra. They also knew that finding them would also mean finding Earth, a planet so vibrant and alive, and siphoning its resources til it was dry. The Lunarians could not allow such a thing to happen to its neighbor, despite the fact that the inhabitants of the blue planet had no idea of the Lunarians' existence. This was due to an invisible force field set around the Lunarians' home that blocked the palace from Earth's radar. The Lunarians believed it better to not have their presence known to their neighbors to prevent news of the Silver Imperium Crystal's power from leaking. So the Lunarians made the difficult, but necessary decision to leave their home to protect the greater good.

But she learned on that fateful day of her coronation that one cannot run forever. Hours before the ceremony, the appearance of the Galra battleship grew in the horizon. The Lunarians were horrified. There were absolutely no warning signs of the invasion. Because of the Lunarians' small size and roles as keepers of peace, they had no battle fleet that could counter that of the Galra's.

Serenity barreled through the halls, throwing away any kind of social convention to the wind. When she burst through the coronation hall, her mother and Shura were wrapped in a tense discussion.

"She's not ready," her mother said dismally, "you have to take her in the escape pod and flee. I'm sorry but there's no other option. Our first and foremost priority is to protect the Silver Imperium Crystal."

"But what about you, Mother?!" the princess cried out.

"If this crystal is as powerful as we say it is, can't it protect us? I'm tired of our people living in fear of our enemies, always fleeing instead of fighting. What good is a jewel if all it does it shine! Why is the stone so precious to you?"

Queen Selenity turned to her and gave her smile strained with unshed tears.

"My golden child," the queen said wistfully, "you are the most precious thing to me. I know you would have been the kindest and wisest queen to our people. But now your duty is to ensure that our legacy must live on. Someday, when the time is right, the Silver Imperium Crystal will give you the power to protect those you love."

"I don't understand. Why can't I use the crystal now? You and all the people on this moon are who I love-" Serenity pleaded, but she was cut off by a sharp pressure to her collarbone. Shura had covertly slipped behind her without her knowing. Before the royal Lunarian's body could drop to the floor, Shura quickly took her in her arms.

Queen Selenity nodded affirmatively. "It's time for you to go. Thank you for all you've done for us. We will always be indebted to you," the queen said.

"No, your majesty. It is I who will always be indebted to you," Shura bowed to the queen for the last time.

With Serenity in her arms, Shura made haste to the hidden escape pod under the throne.

The ship was equipped with a force field that would hide them from the Galra and rations that would hopefully last for a month.

* * *

Queen Selenity stepped outside to the front of the palace. She held her jeweled encrusted scepter up and willed a shield to form around the city. The Lunarian knew that sending a last minute large ship with her people en tow would mean certain destruction. There was no way the ship could avoid the Galra battle ship; the Lunarians' technology was not built for speed but rather defense. She ordered her people to flee in as many pods as possible. She would stay here to protect those who could not leave the satellite moon. Most of her citizens should have departed by now though. The only ones who were left were those who chose to stay and defend the kingdom with her.

In the distance, she could see a fleet of Galra ships splitting off from the main warship. Her confidence in the secured evacuation of her people wavered.

No, even though she was staring at death in the horizon, she could not give up. She could not lose hope. She was Selenity, proud Queen and protector of the Lunarians.

* * *

Although Shura had done her best make it pass the Galra, what awaited her and the unconscious Serenity was a battle fleet orbiting the entire moon. Because their planetoid was so small, the Galra were able to circle the entire satellite with battle ships and activated a detection field able to entrap any ship, whether disguised or not.

Not one Lunarian had escaped.

Shura woke in a cramped, dark prison with a handful of alien races she could not recognize offhand. She jolted up and scanned the room for the princess. Her heart raced as her eyes scanned each face. She shifted to rise up but she felt the familiar feel of satin underneath her hand.

Her heart swelled with affection and relief. Serenity was safe and sound right next to her.

Before she could reach out and wake the princess up from her forced slumber, a Galra officer opened the prison doors. Harsh lights suddenly came on and momentarily blinded the cell's residents.

"Alright. Get up. Time to assign duties," the soldier said noncommittally. Not caring who he was sending where.

The prisoners slowly shuffled out of the room as shackles were put upon them to ensure no chance of freedom. Their assignments were picked by assessment of their build. The less built ones were sent to custodial and cooking duties. Those who seem like they could handle heavy lifting were sent to ship's mechanical room. As one-by-one their captured-enemies-turned-slaves shuffled out of the room, only two prisoners were left in the cell. A burly woman with a still unconscious girl on the floor.

"Oi. Hurry up you two. Wake up the Sleeping Beauty already. I don't have all day," the officer remarked impatiently. He had to hurry to an upcoming commanders' meeting.

The warrior-esque woman rose to her full height, which was taller than himself, the officer disdainfully thought.

"What would it take to ensure the protection of this girl?" Shura asked with no hesitation in her voice.

The Galra mulled over the offer for a moment. Typically, he wouldn't have given a second thought to such a proposal but the days at the Galra ship were starting to blend together. An idea popped into his head. Deck workers, custodians, food servers and the like were always replaceable. But fighters. Fighters were not. There was an underground fighting ring on the ship lead by some Galra underlings that the commanding officers ignored.

The officer smirked. "I'll tell you what. For as long you're able-or alive-to brawl in this ship's fighting ring, I'll make sure no one knows about this girl's existence on this ship. Now I can't just let her go," he chuckled maliciously, "we need something to keep you going."

The Galran male continued, "she'll be fed three times a day in a cell separated from the other prisoners. Since I'm feeling particularly generous, I'll even let you visit her."

Shura acquiesced with a silent nod.

"Alright. I'll show you where to take her," the Galran soldier directed. Shura kneeled down to the floor in reverence of the figure before her. She did it. She ensured her liege's protection for as long as she was alive.


	3. Chapter 3: The Deal

Serenity woke up with a blinding headache. When she made a motion to move her limbs, she heard the clinking sound of chains. She looked around and realized that there was no possibility that these dimensions belonged to the escape pod Shura and she escaped in.

Wait, Shura! Where was her guardian? There was nothing in this metallic room except a simple cot attached to the side, a toilet, and the links that chained her to the room. She started screaming and banging on the doors, pleading for anybody to hear her voice. The chains were designed for her to reach the door but not to go past it.

Suddenly the door opened and the princess almost fell in surprise, but familiar shackled hands held her up. It was Shura!

The guard hastily shoved Shura into Serenity's cell. "You have five minutes."

"Shura!" The princess immediately pounced on her aide and enclosed her in a hug. Upon hearing Shura wince and hiss, Serenity drew back and took a second look at her guardian. Several scrapes splattered across her body. Her lip was cut and she held her side as if she had a fractured rib.

"Shura? What's going on?" Serenity inquired with worry in her voice.

Letting go of the little amount of strength that was holding Shura together, she collapsed on the small cot provided for Serenity. Although it hurt to breathe, much less talk, she explained what happened since Serenity had been knocked out. She told her about the Galra force field, about their capture, and about the deal Shura had made with the officer.

As her story ended, Shura saddened as the tears began to pour down Serenity's face.

"You mean they're all gone...even Mother?" Shura didn't have it in her to nod at the truth.

"Shura, I can't let you fight for me. I can't live knowing that you're putting your life on the line for me like this."

"But you must, my princess. You must live for the both of us. You must live for your mother and for all the Lunarians who lost their lives to make sure that you would live."

"But I never asked for this. I never wanted this," Serenity spat out bitterly. Her eyes hardened. "If you're doing this for me, I would rather not live knowing that my own existence is the cause of your suffering."

Shura's face darkened at the vaguely veiled threat of self-harm that Serenity had just issued. She countered Serenity's look with one set even harder with an unyielding determination.

"Dying is easy, my sweet Serenity. But living is harder."

Without warning, the door slid open and the Galran officer entered. "Alright, time's up!"

Shura stood up with strained, exhausted muscles and left the room without another look at Serenity.

* * *

For weeks, Shura fought relentlessly. Day after day, she battled with open wounds and broken bones that never fully healed. All Serenity could do was wait for the brief meetings with Shura after a fight. These meetings were sporadic, though. Sometimes, she would go days without seeing Shura. Unbeknownst to her, whenever the injuries were particular bad, Shura would reject the opportunity to see Serenity. She would continue hiding Serenity from the full brutality and cruelty of this world for as long as she could.

In the beginning Serenity still objected Shura's decision. But during the time when all she could do was wait helplessly for Shura to come back, most likely more broken than the last time she saw her, the princess could not muster any more energy to protest. Instead, she focused all of her energy into mustering what little healing magic she knew to ease the pain. Before she knew it, Shura became her reason for living as Serenity was Shura's reason for fighting. She still did not have the courage to apologize for her weakness that day when she had threatened to commit suicide, but she showed her resolve and belief in Shura by only giving her words of encouragement when she would visit the princess.

Their routine went on until the day she was scheduled to fight the Champion. On the night before the battle, Shura and Serenity discussed the information they had on the Champion.

"From what the others were saying, the Champion's real name is Shiro and that had injured his own friend in his blind lust for battle," Shura stated with no trepidation. She had seen much worse in the battle ring.

Serenity refrained from commenting but couldn't stop the fear unfurling in her stomach.

"He's won many battles," Shura continued, "even among the Galran soldiers, he is known as the most bloodthirsty warrior they've ever seen."

The princess gulped but said nothing. She simply reached for Shura's hand and held it tightly within her own. She brought Shura's hand to her forehead and prayed.

"May the Goddess of Serene watch over you." Both Serenity and Shura held back tears as they did every time before Shura went on to spar. The two were careful to not shed even one tear in front of the other. They had to remain strong as to not worry each other. The sound of the door opening prompted their separation. Unable to shut out the possibilities of horrors to come, Serenity twist and turned restlessly with worry until late hours of the night.

She stood before the door, twenty four hours later, waiting for the sound of Shura's shackles outside the door that never came. Instead of Shura's stern yet beautiful face, the Galran officer who Shura made the deal with was in her place.

"Wh-where's Shura?" Serenity asked shakily, dread pooling in her stomach.

"You can probably figure it out for yourself," the guard said apathetically. "The Champion won. It's too bad. I had big money on her since she was my recruit."

A white, hot consuming anger encapsulated Serenity and ripped through her like lightning. She lunged towards the officer, her nails aimed at his throat. He cutoff her attack with ease by wrapping a hand around her throat. The beastly Galran slammed her against the wall and slowly pushed her up until her feet no longer touched the floor. Serenity willed all the strength she had to not pass out.

"Now, now. I have shown nothing but kindness to you and Shura over the past month. I've prevented you from having to partake in any of the arduous labor the other slaves have had to endure." He sighed in irritation.

"Unfortunately, with Shura gone, that deal is off. You have to start carrying your own weight now. Don't worry. I'll go easy on you since Shura had been so successful in her battles this past month. You can start with being a food server." He let Serenity drop to the floor. The princess coughed and heaved, taking in all the air that she could.

"Now. Let's move you to the servants quarters."

Before he could drag her up by the arm, the sound of the alarms blasted through the corridors.

"PRISONER ESCAPE! PRISONER ESCAPE!"

"Shit!" The officer whipped his head around and reached for his communicator. He yelled a series of angry commands and profanities in Galran. His superiors were going to throw him to the wolves if a prisoner had escaped under his watch.

A garbled voice replied on the communicator.

"What!" he exclaimed. "The Champion has escaped?!" The Galran commander kicked the wall and cursed again.

"I'll deal with you later!" Before Serenity knew what was happening, the Galran commander left her cell.

The orphaned princess waited hopelessly in her prison for her inevitable enslavement. But the officer never came back. Due to his negligence and his inability to prevent the escape of the Champion, he had been demoted or transferred somewhere else. Or worse. The blonde Lunarian didn't spend much time thinking about his fate though; she simply didn't have the energy to anymore. Because he was the only one on the ship who knew of her existence and the one who had been in charge of her meals, she no longer had a source of sustenance.

After almost a week with no food, Serenity felt like her body was caving into itself. The hunger gnawed inside of her like a ravenous monster. She didn't even have the ability to cry for Shura, instinctively desperate to preserve the water inside of her. She was so frail, so weak, so useless. There was no point in preserving her life. Especially now that Shura was gone.

Serenity lied their against the wall, accepting that there was only one path left now. Death seductively whispered its offer of blissful comfort into her ears. She closed her eyes for what she expected, moreso hoped, to be the last time.

* * *

When she opened up her eyes to the sight of the Black Paladin, she was at first surprised at the fact that she had woken up at all. Had her body undergone hibernation? But that was not possible for her people. She's never read or heard about such a case.

Looking at the worn down state of the familiar cell around her, she couldn't tell whether weeks or months had passed. Even on the off chance that only a couple days had gone by, there was just no possibility that her body could have sustained itself for that long. When she had closed her eyes that day, she fully expected to starve to death in her sleep. Lunarians' physiology was very similar to that of Earthlings'. They could not survive more than a week at most without food.

She lamented her fate. Even death would not allow her to escape her suffering. Before she could ponder more, she remembered that someone else was in her presence. It was a man fully covered in black and white armor. He had his helmet on so she could not identify any of his features. Her heart dropped. What if this were another Galran soldier who had come to take her away again?

Fortunately, he noticed her discomfort and took of his helmet. For a second when their eyes locked onto one another, she could see that his steely dark eyes were filled to the brim with a kind of sadness and despair that she had seen in Shura and recognized within herself.

However, when he introduced himself as Shiro, her blood immediately curled and all her empathy flooded away to be replaced with hate. Shock, apprehension, and anger boiled up to the surface all at once, but she did her best to prevent this from showing on her face. Anyone who knew her always joked about how easily she could be read. When Shura upsetted her by suggesting she needed to learn to disguise her emotions to become a good queen, her mother had told her: What one sees as the inability to disguise emotions, another sees as honesty. It is up to you to determine which characteristic you choose to uphold. While control is always a good way to handle your enemies, when it comes to the one who you love and care for, it's important to be honest with your feelings.

She winced at the thought of her mother and Shura. She had lost her mother, Shura, friends, and kingdom in less than a month. She was most likely the only Lunarian left. But when the thought that the Champion-Shura's murderer, whether he knew it or not-was right in front of her, she wondered if this was why she continued to live against all odds. Maybe the reason for her prolonged existence was to exact revenge on this cold, blood thirsty killer. She solidified her resolve and accepted the hand of her enemy.


	4. Chapter 4: The Promise

Serenity closed her eyes and focused on expanding her sixth sense. While Aura Sensing was never her best subject, she had a handle on enough of the basics to distinguish between a handful of people. She could see seven large auras within her mind's eye and a couple of small ones perhaps belonging to critters. The auras were all thankfully all different colors. This would make them easier to distinguish.

The critters' aura accompanied a vibrant pink one. The aura pulsed with an unwavering confidence, but she could see a blue tint that would flash from time to time. This person probably experienced a tragedy that may never heal.

A swirl of light blue and orange aura was not too far from the pink aura. She could detect high energy from this one. Based off this person's aura, they were loyal to a fault. A similar tinge of sadness similar to the pink aura underlay this one as well.

She moved onto a wallflower colored aura on some floors below the aforementioned two. This one gave off a more nervous, cautious energy but pulsated with a vitality that Serenity wish she had herself.

A green aura resided in the room next to the yellow one. This one was a lot calmer. It gave off a feeling similar to a spring breeze, but she detected spikes of a restless frustration in the emerald energy.

Near those auras were two more: one crimson red and another sapphire aura. While the red one burned like a flame that you could not put out, the blue one swirled like ocean waves shrouding its inhabitants in a watery barrier. While these seem to contrast each other like night and day, they actually had more in common upon a closer inspection. The crimson aura pulsated with a promise to ward off danger to those held in its protection and the sapphire aura had the potential to be unrelenting if in pursuit.

The moon princess concentrated on the last aura. It was a swirling mass of black energy, akin to a tornado. A mysterious pink-purple hue flashed through the mass like lightning skirting across stormy skies. While the chaotic and constant flux of the aura made it hard for Serenity to read it, she recognized a familiar tendril of melancholy that she had seen in the Champion's eyes when she first awoke in the Galran ship.

This was it. There was no doubt about it. This aura belonged to the Black Paladin. He was a couple of floors above her in the castle. She maneuvered through the corridors and floors, past countless rooms until she finally reached his.

The blonde Lunarian stood in front of his door, taking a few deep breaths. She had never before carried malicious intent towards anybody in her life. Not allowing her rationality or fears to increase her hesitation, she opened the door to Shiro's cabin.

The room was the typical size of accommodation for one person. It had sparse decorations and furniture. The cabin was dark with streaks of blue lights illuminating the darkness. The black-and-white haired pilot lay at the other end of the room on a twin bed built into the wall.

Serenity scanned the unlit room, desperate to find a weapon. Even with her body healed, she knew she did not have the physical strength to take on Shiro barehanded. Luckily for her and unluckily for the Champion, she found a small dagger hanging on the wall next to her. Her legs stepped closer and closer to the weapon, trepidation making each of her footsteps heavy.

The dagger had a leather-like handle and its blade was the length of her hand. It was light but heavy enough in her palm to have the reality of what she was about to do pool into her grip. All her senses shifted to focus on the weight of the weapon in her hands. Slowly, she made her way to the still dormant Paladin with quiet, deliberate footsteps.

When she reached the edge of the bed, she gingerly climbed onto it, placing her knees on both sides of Shiro's waist. At this point, she was surprised she hadn't woken the black-and-white haired man up yet. The Lunarian was by no means a skilled or an experienced assassin. When she looked down to examine his face, he noticed that his expression was scrunched up in either pain or uncomfortability-she couldn't tell. Perhaps he was having a nightmare.

"Maybe all your victims are coming back to haunt you," the blonde snidely thought.

She examined his face again. He had a strong jawline and a scar running horizontal across his nose bridge. Perhaps if they hadn't met each other as a result of both their cruel fates, she would have admitted that he was quite attractive and fawned over him in secret. Maybe, if she were just a common Lunarian, and he, a space explorer, they would have had a different story. They wouldn't have ended up on the Galran ship, scarred beyond recognition.

The blue-eyed royal shook her head to erase her fantasies. Now was not the time. With the dagger grasped in both hands, she raised it high, directly above the Black Paladin's jugular. This was it. This was the moment she would take revenge for Shura.

Shura. Her beloved, lost mentor. Would she have approved of this? Would she have protected Serenity all this time if she knew that the future of the princess entailed blood on her hands?

"Shura wouldn't have wanted this," a voice she thought she had snuffed out grew louder in the back of her mind.

"You're not a killer, Serenity. You can stop this now."

"Be quiet!" She tried to fight back against her own voice of reason. "He killed Shura. He deserves this. My hands will be stained with blood, but his were stained first."

"All you are doing is enabling for the cycle of tragedy to persist. The Galra pillaged planets. He, like you, was just another victim in their tyranny. Neither you nor him had control of your fate back then. But now you do. Would your mother and Shura be satisfied dying in your name if they knew a murderer would live to continue the Lunarian legacy?"

The former royal felt hot tears starting to form. It blurred her vision of Shiro. Her grip on the weapon slackened and she was shaking as fear and regret pulsated through her body. Not realizing it, one lone tear ran down her face and fell onto Shiro's.

xxxXxxx

A warm sensation slid down Shiro's cheekbone. It reminded him of the countless laser beams that he would narrowly dodge time and time again. This sudden hot tingle along his face ignited his other senses and he realized that he was not alone. The dull haze of sleep was quickly replaced with a hurried alertness as he felt the weight of someone above him. This realization jarred the Voltron pilot awake to the sight of a dagger inches away from his face. Instinctively, he knocked the weapon out of his unknown attackers' hands and it flew across the room, out of both his and the assassin's reach. He used his body's momentum to cause the unidentified figure to lose their balance and flip their positions. Now with the upper hand, it was Shiro who was straddling his assailant. The former Galran fighter quickly moved to pin the stranger's hands atop their head.

Now fully awake, he scanned the attacker's face. To his surprise, it was the Lunarian he had saved from the wreckage! How was this possible? Did she release herself from the cryogenic pod?

Another thought streaked across his mind. Was she working for the Galra? Had the Galran planted an assassin, knowing that the Voltron Paladins would undoubtedly save her and allow her to infiltrate the Altean castle? Shit! He cursed, wondering about the damage she had already caused.

His gripped on her hands tightened painfully as his eyes darkened. If she had hurt his friends, there was no way he could show her mercy now.

As he moved to interrogate her about her motives, he saw the hot tears streaming down her face. Framed with her golden hair spread out on the bed, the former Galran prisoner continued to sob. Bewildered at such a sight, his grip on the Lunarian princess slackened.

"Just kill me," she tearfully pleaded in a soft whisper, "I don't deserve to live anymore."

The anguish in her voice hit him like a freight train and his countenance lost all of the harsh accusation it had.

"Before we decide anything, tell me why you're here," the leader of Voltron inquired in a gentle voice in an attempt to calm the moon princess.

Hearing this question, the anger quickly surged back into the blonde. Her brows furrowed in fury. "Because you killed her. You killed Shura!" the blonde accused in a mixture of despair and outrage.

"Who-What are you-" the Voltron leader sputtered. The rest of his question could not follow because a blinding headache paralyzed Shiro at that moment. Releasing his hold of Serenity, he drew back his hands to press them against his temple in a futile attempt to stop the pain.

"Shura. Shura. Shura," he started chanting the name like a mantra.

He moved to sit on his calves, waiting for his episode to pass. Princess Serenity, confused by the sudden turn of events, pushed herself up and stared at the Black Paladin as he chanted the name of her departed caretaker.

xxxXxxx

 _Shiro was aboard the Galran ship and uproarious cheering surrounded the Earthling, deafening him._

" _Champion! Champion! Champion!" one side of the crowd chanted._

" _Shura! Shura! Shura!" shouted the other._

 _Shutting out the noise of the arena, he stepped to the edge of the ring and lifted himself up. Across the battlefield was a tall, muscular woman with copper skin and white hair. Even from where he was, he could distinguish an unwavering set of violet eyes staring back at him, unwilling to back down. He took a deep breath and braced himself. One more fight in an endless series of battles. This was just one more._

 _The future Black Paladin had been here for almost a year now. It was growing harder to tell between the days but he knew he could not lose hope. Not if he wanted to escape._

 _He quickly came back from his thoughts when the Galran referee swung down a flag, signaling the start of the fight. Instantaneously, the crowd increased their jeers and taunts. The crowd had Galran soldiers and captured slaves alike, relishing in the sight of pitting the ship's inhabitants against each other in a cruel attempt at leisure. He knew that many of the slaves in the crowd and on the battlefield had lost their minds due to their endless imprisonment. It was like being tossed in a slow cooker, knowing that the end was inevitable but never knowing when the timer would end its count. Eventually, a prisoner ended up insane due to the unrelenting war between their self-preservation instincts and their desire, moreso inability, to end it all._

 _Shiro and the white-haired warrior met in the middle of the ring. Without any hesitation, the two fighters began their assault. These battles more than likely ended in death or incapacitation. Shiro preferred the latter, no matter how large of a killing intent emanated from his opponent._

 _However, there was no killing intent from the violet-eyed woman. He could only detect an intense determination, as if she had something or someone to protect. He knew the feeling. He had took it upon himself to injure Matt to prevent him from entering the battle arena._

 _He solidified his goal to only knock his opponent out, wishing he could have relied on certain pressure points to do so. But when it came to a ship full of aliens, Shiro was none the wiser about their unique anatomy. With his opponent's speed, he knew he couldn't have had the time to experiment on which area led to immediate unconsciousness._

 _He decided then to draw the fight out, to exhaust his opponent to the point when they could not hold out any longer. Minutes into the battle, he held back much of his attacks, intentionally not landing his punches on the warrior. The black-haired fighter could tell that his contender was slowly losing energy, her movements becoming sluggish._

 _As she tried to hit Shiro with an uppercut, she finally asked in a perplexed tone, "Why are you holding yourself back? I have read your movements and you are purposely not landing punches. Do you pity me?"_

 _Unable to stop his movements lest he make the Galran officers suspicious, he replied, "I don't want to fight you. And I can tell you don't want to fight me."_

 _His response only furthered her confusion. "It seems you are not as cruel and bloodthirsty as rumored."_

 _They both paused to catch their breaths. Their cessation caused a cacophony of boos. Before they could pause for another moment, two Galran officers at each corner lashed at the two contestants with a bullwhip as punishment for stopping._

" _Hurry up and continue the fight! We don't have all day here!" the taller of the two callously dictated._

 _Instead of advancing, Shura fell to her knees. The whip, which had viciously licked her back, jostled one of the broken rib fractures to pierce her organs. A searing pain flared from her left abdomen and she coughed up blood. The unhealed damage from the warrior's relentless battles was catching up to her. She was bleeding out internally._

 _Growing impatient at the female warrior's refusal to move, the Galran officer continued his abuse, ensuring to make each lashing harder than the last._

 _Ignoring the angry cries from the crowd and the curses from the Galran soldiers, Shiro raced to the white-haired warrior's side. He cautiously laid her across the floor of the ring, propping her neck on his hand. Gingerly, the male grabbed her hand and held it within his grasp._

 _She let out a strained breath, blood gurgling in the back of her throat. Tears streamed down her face, "I cannot do this anymore. I'm dying. I can no longer protect her."_

" _Protect who?" questioned Shiro, wanting to allow her to have her last words with him and not with some cold-blooded Galran underling._

" _The princess. She was captured along with me," her face twisted in sorrowful regret, "I couldn't protect her."_

 _Devastated by the agony in her voice and not knowing what else to say, he made an empty promise for the first time in his life, "I'll do it. I'll protect her in your place."_

 _Shura let a small smile grace her face at the gesture of kindness Shiro had just offered. The dying guardian knew that this vow was fruitless. But in her last moments, she truly wanted to believe that he would carry out his oath and free her beloved princess from her prison._

 _Her final thoughts were of finding a young Serenity in a wide field of flowers. The young rebellious princess had somehow managed to use the transporter to teleport to Earth. A colorful plethora of flowers engulfed her. Instead of chiding the moon princess for her recklessness, the violet-eyed protector kneeled down in front of Serenity. She bowed her head to allow the small girl to don her with a crown of flowers, deeming her the "Most Beautiful and Strongest Warrior in all of Lunarian History."_

 _The hand Shiro held grew slack as the life in Shura's body seeped out of her. Before he realized it, the two Galran underlings had climbed onto the stage and ripped the two contestants apart. He heard the sickening smack of Shura's head against the cement floor and all the blood drained from his face._

 _The smaller Galran soldier kneeled down to put his hand in front of the fallen warrior's nose. "She's not breathing anymore. Looks like she's gone. Damn, the bossman will be pissed to hear this."_

 _Hearing the affirmation of the white-haired warrior woman's defeat, the taller soldier grabbed Shiro's fist in his own hand and raised it high above their heads._

" _THE WINNER IS SHIRO, THE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION! NEXT WEEK HE WILL FACE THE INDOMITABLE GLADIATOR!"_

 _The crowds jumped out of their seats, causing a pandemonium in the arena with their shouts. Shiro didn't hear any of it. He had finally lost the last seed of hope, which had held back the collapse of his sanity._

 _He had to escape. He just had to._

 **xxXxx**

* * *

Slowly, the wave of memories that hit Shiro abated, and his mind returned to the present. The Black Paladin let his hands fall from the sides of his face to at lay both sides of his thighs. He eyes were cast downwards, crestfallen.

"You're right," he murmured, "I let her die. I couldn't save her. And that's the same of being responsible for her death."

He raised his eyes to look at Serenity's unreadable face. Tears began to run down the contour of his face.

Serenity, stunned at his admission of guilt, was immobilized. This wasn't the cold, bloodthirsty killer who she had imagined taking the life of her bodygaurd. This was a man, barely keeping afloat in a sea of his sorrows, traumatized beyond repair from his time in the Galran ship.

Gradually, all the resentment and anger dissipated, only to reveal the grief and pain that had lain underneath.

The moon princess delicately placed her hand on the space explorer's tear-stricken face. Shiro paused but then slowly lifted his hand to situated it on top of her own, relishing in the warmth seeping into his cheek.

"I'm sorry," she could not pinpoint exactly what she was sorry for. For taking her anger out on him and trying to take his life? For the guilt unfairly placed upon him by being a witness to Shura's death? For all the countless tragedies he had faced and the more to come because of the Galra? She didn't know anymore. All she knew right now was that the least she could offer was her company.

Slowly but surely, she inched closer to the Black Paladin. She moved the hand that was placed on his cheek to the cusp of his neck and lifted her other arm to wrap around his shoulder in what she hoped Shiro would interpret as a comforting embrace. The Lunarian rested her chin on the Voltron fighter's left shoulder. Next, she willed her aura to wrap the both of them in a calm and soothing warmth.

Shiro, at first surprised at her apology, but now thankful at the Lunarian's olive branch, gradually melted into her embrace. He started to feel an unnatural, but pleasing warmth blanket him. Unconsciously and sleepily, he brought up both of his arms to encircle Serenity and drew the both of them down to the bed.

They lay there, wrapped in each other's arms, falling asleep to the rhythm of their intertwined heartbeats.


	5. Chapter 5: The Arrival

Shiro's circadian rhythm came to a full cycle. His drowsiness began to recede as his senses felt something amiss in his usual mornings. Although he had only been in the Altean castle for a couple of Earth days, he had slowly carved out a routine. It made adjusting to his new life easier. Well, as easy as attaining the position of Black Paladin, leader of a movement to free the universe from the hands of a totalitarian regime was.

First of all, he felt warm. This was odd because he's always felt cool. The suits and manufactured environments for space were designed to maintain the optimum temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. Although he was never cold, he never truly felt warm. Even while the castle kept the atmosphere above freezing temperatures for both Altean and Earthlings alike, living in in it was like standing under an unrelenting air conditioner. Already Lance had complained of the cold drying up his skin, to which Keith replied that if he preferred the heat, they could drop him off at the nearest sun.

This was the first time in a long while in which he had felt warm. It was the kind of warmth one would feel in front of a fireplace after returning from a day pelted by cold, harsh winds. It made one feel thankful for the cold, so he could have the experience of the warmth wrapping around his core. It was such a pleasant warmth that Shiro never wanted to let go. He wanted to selfishly hold on to it for as long as there was breath in him. So he tightened his grip and drew the warmth closer, protecting it with his entire being.

Funnily enough, the warmth stirred.

Shiro's eyes went wide, all sleepiness gone in a flash. Suddenly, he was aware of not only the warm skin against his own, but the silky hair between his fingers. The soft, smooth limb between his legs. The small fists bunching up the fabric of his shirt. The girl who felt like she held completely melded into Shiro overnight.

"This is not good. This is not good at all," Shiro thought, panic-stricken. For a man who has repeatedly stared death in the eyes, it surprised even Shiro that such a petite being could induce such an anxiety-ridden state. Ever being the gentleman, Shiro put all the years of space and physical training into slipping out of the princess's tight grasp. When he successfully detached himself from her, he immediately felt the loss of her warmth. It was if the heat in his body was borrowed. Now that he was about to leave, it would return to her like she was the sole, rightful carrier of warmth. Breaking his gaze from her sleeping face proved harder than he expected and he wished nothing more than to return to her embrace. But it was almost time for training to start, and after the almost-fiasco of their recent battle, the team really needed the practice. Quickly donning his gear, he was off, giving one last glance to the slumbering girl in his bed.

Shiro was the first of the five Paladins to appear in the training room. Allura was already up, looking over the training curriculum. Before he could get a greeting out, the morning alarm sounded, most likely jarring the other residents of the castle awake. He offhandedly wondered if Serenity would wake up now. Realizing that the blonde was muddling his thoughts, he refocused and greeted Princess Allura.

"Good morning, Princess. What are the plans for today?"

Just as she was to respond, a grumbling moan came from a corridor.

"What the Quiznark?" said the Princess in exasperation.

"Ugh…" came from a voice most definitely belonging to Lance, "why do we have to get up so early? This is really cutting into my beauty sleep." Lance entered the room, still in a face mask with cucumbers on his eyes.

The Princess glared at Lance in disapproval, "Lance, the nerve of-"

But again, she was cut off by another yawn, this time coming from Pidge.

"Good morning," Pidge greeted as she rub the drowsiness out of her eyes. The small Paladin came in with Keith and Hunk in tow.

"What is wrong with you all?" Allura started, "Wasn't the disaster from last time enough to show you how important and dire your mission is? And here you all are grumbling about rest. You know, the Galran empire never rests."

"Come on, Princess. It hasn't even been a week since we left our home hundreds of light years away to come help fight to defend the universe. It's hard to adjust to such a big change," retorted Lance. None of them had yet to admit it aloud, but the realization that they were galaxies away from Earth had started to dawn on them.

"I understand your point, but Princess Allura is right. We don't know when the Galra will attack next. We need to get our act together before that happens," Shiro said in a definitive voice.

The Altean Princess was thankful that their two objectives aligned. She recognized the shining beacon of leadership within Shiro and knew that the Black Lion could not have a better Paladin. Already, Shiro's calm and collected personality proved vital in maintaining the Paladin's focus in their mission. Allura's train of thought was interrupted yet again by Coran barreling through the castle doors. Unable to catch his breath, Coran only managed to get one word out for every breath he took.

"The...Lunarian...is," the struggling Altean wheezed, "...is...MISSING!"

Immediately, all sleep was wiped from the Paladins' countenance and everyone but Shiro tensed.

Allura's eyes almost popped out of her skull. The castle being infiltrated by an enemy was the worst thing that could happen this early into their mission. When did she get out? Had the Lunarian left the castle already? No, she was more likely to still be in the castle, digging for Altean secrets and trying to sabotage Voltron. What if she was planted there by the Galra? Allura's mind raced with all the disastrous consequences of allowing a stranger into the castle as she began barking out orders.

"Pidge, Hunk, and Keith, split off to guard the castle's entrance and exit. Shiro and Lance, please go to the lions and make sure they're safe. Coran, come with me to the control room to put this castle's on lock down."

As the castle occupants scrambled to get to their destinations, Shiro threw his arms out and yelled for everyone to come to a stop.

Everyone stilled as Shiro drew in a short breath to prepare for what he was about to say next. A wave of embarrassment flooded over him. His face heated up and the tips of his ears reddened. How he had wished to have his helmet on right now to hide his face.

"The Lunarian Princess was under my watch for the whole night. She's currently in my room," Shiro explained reluctantly, knowing that such a statement would certainly cause for a misunderstanding. But no matter how many ways he could think about phrasing the story, he knew that there was no way to explain it to the team without any underlying implication. How was he to explain that the Lunarian had come to his room last night to kill him but changed her mind at the last second? Even though she was so close to assassinating him, he knew within his gut that she was not the type to harm a soul. He thought back to the day Shura had died-to the empty promise he never thought he would be able to fulfill.

" _I'll do it. I'll protect her in your place."_

Shiro could not explain why exactly he had already grown so protective of the newfound princess. It was something about her eyes. The moment he had looked into them, he found so much sorrow that he wanted to cry for her too. They both lost their innocence on that Galra ship, something he never thought possible before as an Earthling who never knew of life outside his solar system.

Once Shiro's statement settled into the Alteans and Paladins minds, a range of reactions came about. Both the Alteans exploded into a tomato-hue of embarrassment as they wondered about Earthling courting rituals. Hunk, Pidge, and Keith stood paralyzed as they never expected such a statement from their leader and were all in the process of reforming their image of the Black Paladin.

Lance was the only one with the gall to say anything.

"Woooooooow, Shiro. I have to say, you work faster than I do. How-"

The white-and-black haired warrior thanked all the gods in this universe because at that moment, the sound of the door sliding open cut off Lance from finishing a predictably crude inquiry. The castle door opened to reveal the blonde Lunarian still in her tattered knee-length dress. She was standing with one hand on the wall and the other hand in a loose fist in front of her chest. It was as if she was trying to blend into the background.

"G-good morning. I heard a commotion and I was worried if my disappearance had caused a disturbance," said the moon princess in a demure voice. Her shyness prevented her from looking directly at anybody. And because of her imprisonment, it had been awhile since she's been in so many strangers' presence.

The pilot of the Blue Lion, still in all his facial glory, sported his best smile and made way to the newcomer. In a second, he was by her side and reached out for her hand to kiss. Pidge scrunched her face in disgust while Keith scoffed in disbelief. Shiro, on the other hand, paced quickly to break the flirtatious Paladin away from the blonde. The leader would never admit this to be an act of jealousy, however, no matter how much the flames of his jealousy had licked at his insides when he had seen Lance touch Serenity's hand.

"Lance, go back to your room and wipe the gunk off your face. Be in the training room in five minutes," he turned towards the rest of the Voltron pilots, "that goes for the rest of you. Get ready. The day has officially started."

Sensing that he might have crossed a line, the Cuban pilot took heed of Shiro's orders and shot out of the room. The other Paladins scrambled to put their gears on.

Coran and Princess Allura were pulled out of their stupor by the commanding nature of Shiro's voice and refocused on the tasks at hand.

"I'll go prepare the castle's training system for the Paladins," stated Coran and off he went to do just that.

The Altean Princess gave her Lunarian counterpart a once-over. Although she was still quite alarmed by the blonde's ability to exit the healing pod and walk around the ship unnoticed, Shiro's approval of the moon princess put her at ease at least for the moment. She gave a disarming smile to Serenity. "Now, I must get you out of that poor excuse of a dress. A princess should definitely dress like one."

Serenity lips turned up at such a Shura-like statement and her smile put the two remaining occupants of the room at ease. Shiro, on his part, felt relief calming his frazzled nerves and a familiar warmth burgeoning in his chest at seeing her sincere smile. And while the Altean female had not fully rid all of her suspicions of the Lunarian, she wasn't able to stifle her joy at the thought of having a female friend in the castle. Especially in one dominated by men.

Allura returned the other princess's smile and moved to Serenity's side, ushering her towards her personal chambers. Shiro found his eyes following the blonde princess as she left the room. And just as he was about to turn around to start a day full of training, he caught Serenity returning his gaze with a small smile and a wave good-bye. His heart lurched at the sight.


	6. Chapter 6: The Princess Reborn

Serenity marveled at the feel of Princess Allura's plush bed. The Altean's room was painted in a lavender coat and the moon princess couldn't help but agree that lavender fit the royal very well. The room she resided in was much larger than Shiro's room; the grandeur of it very fitting for royalty. The ceiling seemed to be miles high and a chandelier hung from the apex.

The Lunarian lifted her finger to let the small mice-like creatures smell her scent. Although animals were rare on the moon, her tutors would tell her many stories of creatures across the galaxy. Since Earth had been the closest to her satellite planet, she was most familiar with the animals there. How she longed to see those animals with her own eyes one day. For now though, she enjoyed the small squeaks of the mice next to her as she waited for Princess Allura.

Allura was standing in a closet paces away from the bed. She shuffled through the variety of dresses but could find nothing befitting of her Lunarian counterpart.

Growing slightly frustrated she said, "It seems none of my clothes will fit your smaller frame. It would not do well for you to trip over your own feet every time you tried to walk. I suppose I could have Coran tailor a dress here and there."

The blonde girl held up her hands in worry, "oh no! I would not want you to go through the trouble. I will simply wear anything offered to me. The kindness you have offered me has been more than enough."

An idea sprouted in Allura's mind and she clasped her hands in front of her in excitement. Running across the room to a door that Serenity had not yet noticed, Allura yelled, "How could I forget about that?!"

The doors open to allow the Altean royal to enter its dark chambers. The dark-skinned princess motioned for Serenity to follow her and the latter quickly acquiesced. Once she entered, the moon princess furrowed her brows in confusion at the sight of nothingness in the room. It was an all consuming darkness. Even while her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she still could identify nothing in the room. Suddenly the door closed behind her and panic clawed at her throat. The nothingness reminded her too much of her time in the holding cell. Unfortunately, Allura could not sense the Lunarian's anxiety rising.

Not a moment too soon, a turquoise light grew in front of them. Now both princesses could see one another and the smaller of the two grew less nervous at the reassuring sight of her new friend.

The white-haired beauty gave the blonde occupant a big smile, "one of the benefits of being a princess, other than the lovely paperwork and the mindless council meetings, are the clothes." The girls chuckled in unison. Allura beamed; having another princess on board was even better than she thought.

The heir to the Altean castle continued, "this chamber can create anything you imagine. In layman's terms, it is the transfer of ideas from your mind to the space you exist in. It's a technology only the castle makers understood in its entirety, so I think Coran can explain it better than I can. Simply think of any dress you fancy and it will come into existence. But you have to be very detailed in your commands. Now, think about any outfits you have worn in the past or any you would have always love to wear."

Outfit ideas flooded the young princess's mind and she could not contain the smile spreading across her face as she closed her eyes. However, her eyebrows quickly furrowed in confusion. Now that she had the freedom to wear anything she could ever want, she was in a bit of a loss. Countless times she had perused Earthlings' magazines and marveled at the style her neighbors underneath had worn. Thinking back on it though, the styles might have been a bit outdated. There were many what the Earthline called "leopard-prints" clothing and pants that flared out at the ankles. Without meaning to, she wondered what Shiro might have thought about any Earth outfits she would choose. What if she embarrassed herself in front of him by wearing something ridiculous? At this point she didn't even know what was considered ridiculous or anachronistic.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm her overactive mind, she let her thoughts ponder to what she was familiar with: simply the Lunarian style. Although the everyday outfits for the moon citizens were more bland and even a bit constricting, the style still committed a sense of home. Her mind moved to the outfit she had to wear almost every day since she was little, the royal Lunarian princess garb. It was a soft white dress in which golden platelets hugged her chest and a line of pearls underlined the bottom of her breasts. From that point on, a long skirt with infinite ruffles fluttered just above her ankles. Behind her, a butterfly-like bow fluttered into existence. It was comfortable enough as an everyday dress, but elegant enough to befit her princess status.

It was a wonderful, familiar feeling to be in a dress she regularly donned back in her days on the moon kingdom. The familiarity of the cloth and the way it hugged her body washed her with a pleasant warmth that she had long forgotten.

As the light subsided, no longer stood a girl in a tattered dress. Once Allura opened her eyes, she was greeted with the true visage of Princess Serenity of the Lunarian Kingdom in all her glory. She was beautiful, framed by her golden silken hair in her flowing, impeccable white dress. Serenity, too, could only stare at her reflection in the mirror the room had provided. This was how she looked the last time her mother saw her. The last time any of the Lunar residents saw her. Once the two royals left the room, Princess Serenity drew Allura into a tight hug and thanked her with all her heart.

"Thank you! Thank you! This means so much to me. I will never forget your kindness for light years to come!" The Altean woman smiled and returned the embrace.

"It was no problem. Just a favor from one friend to another." The moon princess started tearing up once more at the mention of friend. Other than Shura, she could not think of another friend from her kingdom. All the Lunar residents only considered her royalty and were daunted by her presence no matter how many times she tried to assure them that she was just like them.

Princess Allura drew back a bit and looked into the other girl's face. She could see the tears starting to form, daring to break free. Cautiously, she said, "now, please tell me your story."

With a withering breath, Serenity nodded and the Altean princess led her Lunar counterpart to sit on the bed. Immediately, the moon lady poured out her heart to Allura. She spoke of the peaceful days on the moon. What it had been like before her coronation. How blindsided they were of the Galra impending attack. How Serenity lost everything except Shura in a second, and how she lost her last protector in the next. She relayed her experience as a forgotten prisoner on the Galran ship, left to die of starvation, only able to wait for her suffering to end. It was frustrating to have to relive her pain, especially her helplessness in all this. She could only be a spectator in the tragedies afflicted on her.

Hesitating, she began her tale of her failed plan of attack against Shiro. Although she knew it was not the best way to get on the right foot with her rescuers, she profusely apologized as she had not known what truly happened on the battle arena with the then-Champion. At this point, she had drawn her gaze downwards to her hands, tangling her fingers in her dress, too ashamed to face the Altean princess. Lashes caught her tears before letting them fall once more. Before she knew it, the other princess drew her in to another comforting embrace. She could feel dampness growing on her shoulders where Allura placed her face.

"None of this was your fault. The Galra are the only culprits. Although you acted out in anger, I can see now that you had not meant to do any harm. I, along with Coran and the Paladins, will offer you protection from the Galra and avenge your kingdom as well as mine."

The two princesses sat there, comforted by the warmth of the other's embrace. It had been a long time for the both of them since they had felt the pleasantness and ease of a friendship such as this.

With quite a bit of time before the Paladins would finish their morning training, the two princesses shifted the mood by reminiscing of brighter days of both kingdoms. Hours passed without each girl's notice. For the first time since the Altean princess had awoken from her hibernation did she not feel that time was of the essence. It was the first time she could actually breathe and relish in the fact that she was alive once more after a seemingly endless ten millenia slumber.

"Once, when I was at my wits end because Coran would not stop trying to shove my nose into an astrology textbook, I put the hidden tracker that he did not think I knew about on a castle space mouse. I had Coran running up and down the castle looking for me," Allura paused to laugh," he even tore down one of the castle walls once the mouse ran to hide in there!"

The two princesses burst into guffaws. Serenity replied in between giggles, "that does not seem half as bad as the time I covered my hair and face in space dust and hid in one of the moon's crater. My plan backfired though when I found that I could not climb back up the crater's slope. And my camoflauge was a bit to good as none of our castle's aerial search personnel could find me! It wasn't until I started wailing that my cries reverberated in the crater and alerted the castle people of my whereabouts. Afterwards, my ears practically caved in on itself due to the tongue lashing I received from both my mother and Shura."

Allura laughed and after a bit paused to ask a question, "Oh, you could hear sounds on the moon? That's interesting. I thought since the moon did not have an atmosphere, sound could not travel."

The moon princess was just about to give a detailed explanation about how the anatomy of Lunarian's ears allowed them to be sensitive to sounds in space when Coran's voice interrupted her.

"Oooh, Princesses! The Paladins have finished their morning training! Lunch has been prepared. Please meet in the dining room." Coran's accented voice flowed through the speakers.

Both Princesses rose from the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles in their dresses. They made their way out of Allura's room and down the hall toward the dining room. Serenity quietly behind the heels of the other princess as she had not familiarized herself with the layout of the castle. When they reached the doorway, Allura turned around and held out a hand for the princess.

The princess accepted the gesture warmly and the two walked through the door hand-in-hand.

"Announcing the lovely Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Princess Serenity," Allura declared to the room. It was an introduction the Moon Princess was quite familiar with from her days at the castle. She took her hand from her new friend and grab the sides of her dress, and curtsied as gracefully, the movement practiced for years under the careful eye of Shura. Slowly, she rose and faced the room with her shoulders pulled back and her eyes strong and unyielding. Although she was a bit nervous, she would be a disgrace to the her mother and Shura if she showed it.

Shiro was knocked breathless by the sight of Serenity. No longer a girl in a tattered dress, she was like a being ascended from the heavens in her pristine white gown. A pink blush caressed her cream skin, making the pallid girl he found on the Galran shipwreck seem like another person. The upturned crescent moon proudly glinted under the castle lights.

Two rivers of gold cascaded along her back and almost touched the floor. How he wished to run his fingers through those silky locks. As Serenity slowly rose from her deep bow-a sign of respect for the Paladins, Shiro could admire her visage for all its worth. He did not know where to look as his eyes roamed her face to her chest, an area he would never admit aloud to, and the dress that flared out at her waist and now covered her silky legs that were previously exposed by her tattered dress. Her lips had an alluring glossy sheen to them and Shiro did all he could to clamp down on his urge to discover whether it was due to lipstick or her unconscious licking of her lips.

His pulsed quickened and now, more than ever, he could not deny the attraction that pulled him towards the moon princess. He could feel his mouth dry up at the sight of the girl. As he licked his lips to bring back moisture to the dry planes, his eyes caught Serenity's at that exact moment and he blushed, not knowing how to act now that he had been caught staring. They held each other's gaze for a second that had transformed into infinity between them.

He looked straight into her blue orbs. Once again, he was brought back to the oceans of blue of his planet. He wondered how it could be possible to see the exact cerulean hue halfway across the universe.

The lunar princess looked at Shiro with an unreadable expression. Perhaps this was the royal facade that she had learned as a princess. It made her allure that much more mysterious.

Without meaning to, he flashbacked to the precarious position he found himself in the morning. He remembered the feeling of her hair between his fingers, her soft skin underneath his, and her warmth encompassing him. She smelled so much like flowers and spring, like everything right in the world. Hell, she even felt like a sunny day. He wondered how he could ever go to sleep again, if he would be up all night searching for that warmth. It was a daunting future.

Takashi Shirogane was smitten. And he had no idea what to do. How does one court a princess from another planet? Was he even worthy of thinking such a thing?

Lance gave an appreciative whistle and Shiro resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. It was out of respect for the princess, not jealousy, the Black Paladin tried to convince himself. He glared at the Blue Warrior. He would get back at him at training.

Serenity, herself was too nervous to be able to gauge everyone's reaction, but based on everyone's aura, it seemed that they no longer saw her as a threat. Although the one moment where she had caught Shiro's gaze made her worry. His eyes were stormy, but with a different emotion from the chaotic tulmolt that she had felt last night. The princess could not explain the feeling but she desperately wanted to get lost in them. Reminding herself that she was in the presence of others and this was not the time for a princess to zone out, she brought herself back to the present moment.

Coran was setting the table and motioning for everyone to get to their seats. As she paced to her seat at the dining between Shiro and Allura, her heart began to race yet again at the thought of being in such close proximity with the black-and-white haired soldier. He graciously pulled out her chair for her and she could only manage to whisper a soft "thank you" as she tried to hide her blushing face.

The Altean castle extraordinaire saved everyone the trouble of starting the conversation.

"Well, Princess Serenity. That dress of yours is quite exquisite."

The aforementioned princess blushed at having the spotlight so early in the conversation. She fussed with the non-existent wrinkles in her dress and replied, "A-ah. Thank you. This is the outfit only the royal family of the Lunar Kingdom are allowed to wear. I have to say I was rendered speechless that the castle mechanisms could create something of exact likeness from my memory alone."

"Yes, I have to agree with Coran. The dress looks beautiful on you," Shiro said, not able to control his words even if he wanted to. He mentally kicked himself and hoped his compliment had not come out as creepy. From the accelerating amount of blood in the blonde's face, he couldn't help but chuckle for garnering such a reaction.

Serenity could feel the heat radiating from her tomato-colored face. She didn't even know she could blush this much. Would she faint at this point if all the blood flowed to her face, leaving none for the rest of her body? Unbeknownst to both the warrior and princess, Allura was watching the two from the corner of her eye with a wicked gleam in her eye.

Pidge, at the mention of another cool castle spec, could not contain her curiosity as she immediately started asking more questions about the mechanism. The Moon Dynasty heir described her experience in the machine with a cheery air. Serenity matched Pidge's enthusiasm by waving her arms around and allowing her voice to encapture the wonder and joy she discovered in the machine. With her nervousness dissipating from the princess, her light and joyful personality finally started showing. Other than Allura, who had already seen this side of her when they were chatting in the bedroom, the rest of the group immediately reformed their opinion of the demure princess they had first been introduced to.

As the conversation slowly picked up its pace, talking about the outcome of the morning's training and the plan for the afternoon, Serenity became lost in her thoughts. At something Lance said, she laughed a bit and almost covered her mouth. It was something unheard of for a person of her status to interact in such a way at the dinner table. She was expected to keep silent and only speak when her opinion was asked, which was unfortunately rare at the castle. But Lance continued his line and continued in drawing the laughter from the Princess. How long had it been since she had felt such mirth. With Allura and the Paladins, she felt more alive than she's felt. For the first time, she felt grateful for the beating heart inside chest, a pulsing reminder that she was alive.


	7. Chapter 7: The Leap of Faith

The jarring sounds of the castle alarms ripped Serenity out of her nightmarish slumber. Her eyes had been racing side to side underneath her eyelids, searching for her mother and Shura within the fallen remains of her Lunarian empire. As her consciousness slowly rose to awaken, she could not help but feel that there was something amiss. The ghost of Shiro's embrace haunted her. How her body already missed the way his arms had wrapped around her as if promising that he would forever shield her from all dangers.

'No!' Serenity slapped her cheeks, ejecting such indecent thoughts from her lovesick mind. They were in the middle of a war against the deadliest empire in the universe. There was no time for love games. No time to gain something and risk losing it in the next second.

Plus, that was only a one. Time. Thing.

'Whyyyy?" her heart whined.

'Because!' her cold-hearted brain tried to say. 'Of reasons!'

Serenity stopped her thought process in its tracks. Best to get out of bed before she hopped on that train of thought and could never get off. After quickly going through her morning, Serenity stepped through the doors of her room. Allura had placed Serenity in a guest room closer to the Altean princess's quarters instead of the more spartan rooms of the Paladins. When Serenity insisted that she couldn't possibly accept such a kind offer, Allura insisted until the blonde gave up.

"Princess Serenity, there's this huge castle for just the seven of us. Trust me, there are many rooms to fill." Serenity's heart swelled at the kindness the Alteans and the Paladins were showing to her, a stranger they found in a heap of Galran scrap.

Closing her eyes to feel for everyone's aura, she identified a group of several auras huddled in a space not too far from her. Her feet brought her to the viewing balcony attached to the training room. She saw Allura looking down on the Paladins going through battle simulations with a critical eye. "At this rate, they would fall faster than a wiffle-snaffler under the slightest of wind."

The reference flew past Serenity but she gleaned the implication from the metaphor. The blonde Princess couldn't help but search for Shiro's form within the chaos of the simulator. He looked right where he belonged-like he was born on the battlefield. He easily predicted each attack and he countered as such without skipping a beat as if it were a practiced dance.

"Shiro seems to be doing quite well." Serenity remarked, hoping that she sounded more casual than she felt.

"Shiro is the only one who is. Keith and Lance seem to be purposely stepping on each other's toes. Hunk is scared of his own shadow and Pidge doesn't even care!" Frustration was radiating off of the Altean princess in waves.

"Well perhaps you should give them a couple of more days to get the hang of it. Hadn't you told me that they only discovered they were Paladins of the Universe's Only Hope less than a week ago?"

"The Galran Empire has been at it for more than ten thousand years! We have ten millennia of battle prowess to catch up to so every moment counts!" Serenity was taken aback by Allura's impassioned and desperate declaration. This mission sounded like what it was: _a war_.

Serenity couldn't help but feel a overwhelmingly powerlessness in that instant that realization settled over her. She quickly excused herself, not wanting to burden Allura with her insecurities while the Princess was busy fretting over the Paladins' progress.

If only Serenity knew how to help. The Lunarian race seemed like cowards now for choosing not to fight, but she quickly shook such a thought out of her head. There was no way she would ever call her late mother, Queen of the Lunarians, a coward. It was the best decision at the time. The kingdom was too small to defend themselves. The Lunarians had also committed to a life of peace so their mindset was not on weapons. A tear fell from Serenity's cerulean eyes, thinking of her mother's last moments defending her people.

But this adherence to peace meant that Serenity never learned to fight. Neither her mother or Shura would ever allow the clumsy princess near anything sharp. She couldn't even fly a spaceship. She'd probably crashed into the only asteroid in empty space. She didn't have a mind for technology like Pidge and Coran did-speaking tecno-lingo like it was another language. The hapless princess couldn't cook, or possibly be let in the kitchen. It was simply impossible! She couldn't think of anything to do to contribute to the castle. She wished there was more to being a princess than simply smiling or looking pretty. Serenity never cursed her royal status more so than in that moment.

What was a princess with no people or treasure worth now? Such a depressing thought really brought her mood down, sending her mind to dark places. Before she could sink further into these dangerous waters, Coran popped out of the corner.

"Ah Princess Serenity! Glad to see you're up and about! Would you like to help me with something? We need all the hands we can get!"

Serenity's mood brightened immediately. It was like the sun had peaked its bright head from behind some stormy clouds. Coran perked up even more, mirroring Serenity's joy. "A castle under a ten millennia slumber certainly needs its own tune up. The dust building up is hindering some of the castle sensors, so I hope it wouldn't offend you as a princess if I asked you to help me clean some rooms."

"Of course not! You have graciously welcomed me into your home! I will do anything I can to help!" exclaimed Serenity with all sincerity. Coran smiled in return, sending Serenity to the castle's fighter jets room at one of the highest parts of the castle.

"I hope you don't mind heights, Princess Serenity! Some parts of the castle is self-cleaning so I'm opening all the ports to air out the dust. Just be careful of the landing dock! It's a pretty huge fall from there."

Serenity gulped down the stone of fear settled at the top of her throat. The room storing all the fighter jets was huge with a gaping entrance to a blue sky. The once-prisoner never thought she would see any skies like this. Even on the moon, only the dark abyss sprinkled with stars greeted her day and night. From her position, she could see the vast earth placed at the castle's feet. It was so wonderful to have such a scene fill her vision. Serenity quickly drew herself from her thoughts to start cleaning the fighter jets of the castle. She started daydreaming as she saw her reflection in the glass-maybe one day she could fly such a machine and help the Paladins in this war.

The twin suns were high in the sky by the time Serenity noticed that her stomach was growling. Just as Serenity was about to call it quits and head out to lunch, an unknown feeling within her jolted her out of her stupor. This odd feeling pulled her feet towards the edge of the dock, urging her to look over. Her eyes left the horizon to fall towards to the ground hundreds of feet below. What was this feeling? _Jump? What?!_

It was different from those whimsical thoughts she had as a little girl, curious about the lack of gravity of the moon. And it wasn't as if she had suddenly transformed into an adrenaline junkie overnight. This odd feeling kept pushing her feet one step forward until the feet lined up with the edge of the dock.

"Woo-wie," the sound of someone whistling appreciatively drew Serenity from her daze, "these fighter jets seem light years ahead of the ones back at the Garrison. Of course, nothing compares to Blue." Serenity drew herself towards the voice, distancing herself from the edge and the disconcerting desire for her to jump.

Lance stood next to Keith, inspecting the build of the aircrafts. "Keith, how much do you wanna bet that I can leave you in the dust in this thing?"

"I leave you in the dust with the Red Lion, so I think the odds of you doing that are next to nothing."

"Oh come on! That ain't fair! Red was built for speed. Blue was built for style. That's like comparing apples and oranges!"

Serenity crinkled her eyebrows in confusion at such an odd statement. The duo heard her footsteps approaching. "Hey it's our pretty Moon Princess! Hope Coran hasn't been making you work too hard up here!" Lance suddenly reached for Serenity's hands to place a chaste kiss.

Keith shot a laser-beam glare at the tanned flirt out of irritation and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! Keith! What the quiznark?!" An even more annoyed glare met Lance in return. An eerie sense of déjà vu hit the helpless flirt. This was the same look of unhidden displeasure that Shiro had on last night! 'Ah… I see what's going on. Serenity is off-limits.'

The blonde royal looked between the Red and Blue Paladins, watching them communicate with simple glances. It was simply amazing! And a little bit humorous. At first glance, they seem to be constantly at each other's throat. But in actuality, these two worked to the beat of the same drum. But it seemed that they themselves didn't even know it yet.

"So you two are very well trained in the aerial arena?" Serenity inquired.

"Yes! I'm the best, but I got sharp-shooting as a pretty nice side gig."

Keith rolled his eyes at such a haughty brag. "Maybe 'the best' in terms of cargo piloting. But I'm second only to Shiro at piloting jets like these."

An idea popped into her head. "I have a favor to ask of you two!"

"Anything for you, Princess!" Lance replied without missing a beat.

* * *

"' _Anything for you, Princess!_ '" Keith mocked in a false-bravado voice into the communicator. "Do you ever think before you speak, Lance?! Or is there a monkey with a harmonica in the place of a brain in that thick-skull of yours?!"

"Geez. How many insults can you fit into a breath?" Lance said with decreasing patience. Logic was slowly returning into Lance's bloodstream as his mind washed itself of the pretty moon princess's charm.

Somehow, through no fault of his own, the two got wrapped up in Serenity's death plan. She wanted to jump from the highest platform of the castle with the two Paladins waiting at the bottom to catch her. Keith floated with his jet pack about twenty feet from the ground ready to grab the princess on her call; Lance stood at the bottom with an anti-gravity gun to shoot the two mid-fall to stop their descent into their deaths.

"Even if the fall doesn't cause any fatal casualties, Shiro definitely will once he hears about this!" Keith screamed into the receiver. "We have to call this off!"

The threat involving Shiro sent a chill down Lance's spine. Sense finally made its return home to Lance. "Serenity, on second thought, I think we should put a pin in this plan before we-"

"She's jumping!" Keith's yell cut Lance short.

"This is not what I meant when I said I wanted pancakes today!"

Serenity took several soothing breaths. Except they were doing the exact opposite of calming her. Each breath gave her more time to think of the disastrous consequences that her harebrained plan entailed. Why was she risking her life for a weird feeling? But even as her muscles seized in fear of her impending descent, a part of her felt like it was right—this part born from her frustration of being able to do nothing to truly help the Paladins win this war to save the universe.

'Take a leap of faith' her heart cried out to her.

So she did.

With one foot so quickly in front of another, there was no time for her to hesitate. There was no time to think. She was simply a body whose destination was a hard, unforgiving ground. The wind whistled as it carded through her silky, glistening golden locks. Tears spilled over as the cruel wind dried her eyes up. Her white dress fluttered above her, feeling like a thousand birds taking flight against her skin.

Serenity's short life flashed before her eyes. Her short childhood as beholder of the blue marble of the Earth. Her escape attempts from Shura as she dragged her to her lessons. Her mother's constant sermons about the duties of a princess. Her last moments on the moon before the Galra tore their kingdom asunder. Shura's wounds that didn't even have the time to become scars as she fought for Serenity. The time where she balanced precariously on the edge of death and barely living at all.

Wait! Within that all consuming darkness in the Galran prison, she had discovered a faint light. Now matter how many times she tried to throw it away, it came back to her. No matter how much she tried to run away from that small, glittering light, she came back to it. How could she have such a light within her as she was drowning in hopelessness?

It was the same light that called for her to take Shiro's hand-to finally take a stand and leave her prison.

Shiro climbed up the stairs leading to the hangar where the castle kept the extra jets. Since Coran had turned off the castle's communication network to reboot it, Shiro volunteered to go get Serenity for lunch. This was just something a comrade did for one another. Nothing seemed too odd about it, right? So why did Shiro feel like a teenager asking his secret crush to prom in front of the entire school.

As he stepped through the doors of the large garage, his eyes scanned for a blonde head. It wasn't too hard amidst a dark steel grey room. Looking for Serenity in a dark room was akin to searching for a piece of fallen moonlight. When he couldn't find her among the fighter jets, his head turned towards the platform opening up to the outside world. His eyes strained against the bright sunlight, but finally he could distinguish her white form from the clouds outside. What was she doing on the edge? It was too dangerous for someone with no gear on to be that close to the edge. Was she looking down? No. No way. Was she-?

There wasn't any time for Shiro to wonder what Serenity was doing. In the blink of an eye, her glistening, golden and pearl form was no longer part of the horizon. Through muscle memory alone, Shiro sprinted across the hangar as desperation seized his throat, not even allowing him to scream her name. He jumped off the edge, diving after her frail, fluttering form.

'Please, please let me reach her in time,' he sent a prayer to whichever deity loomed closest in this vast expanse of the universe. He activated his jet packs, increasing his acceleration towards the plummeting Serenity. ' _Please.'_

Shiro reached out and in several heartbeats, wrapped Serenity protectively within his arms and the moon princess graciously returned the favor. Even as they were falling towards to what could be their end, Shiro couldn't help but feel that being enwrapped within Serenity's arms was the only place in the universe he wished to be. His eyes focused on the ground, which was approaching them at an alarming rate. Perhaps he could kick off the castle and his jet pack could accelerate with enough energy to stop their impending fall. But Shiro didn't have to do such a thing.

Because in that moment, bright wings radiating a familiar warmth enclosed Shiro. He turned his focus to the girl in his arms and felt feathers sprout from where he was hugging Serenity. The wings unfurled themselves and within a heartbeat, they beat against the rushing air, stopping their hasty descent into the underworld. The refreshing wind caressed his face as he felt his body slowly descend onto the ground. His limbs were still tingling as they hit the ground, in shock that his body had survived such a fall. Instead of marveling at the wonder of Serenity's wings, he immediately crushed her to his chest, not daring to let her go with the memory of her disappearing figure so fresh in his mind. He had to make sure she was real. That he was real. That they were both still alive.

Softly whispering into the crook of her neck, his words trembled with fear. "I thought you had-" Serenity tightened her embrace in response. Understanding the heavy implication of his statement.

Finally reaching a calm enough state of mind to assess the situation, he unreluctantly pried himself off of the beautiful lunar princess. He placed his hands upon her shoulders, still unconsciously seeking a physical connection with her to prove to himself that she was real. "What were you thinking?!" he asked as his eyes bore into her shining cerulean ones.

Serenity held her hands close to her chest as if trying to protect herself from Shiro's imploring gaze. "I wasn't" was her soft, inane reply as if that answered all the mysteries in the universe.

"Hey Serenity! Glad to see you're alright! But did you seriously just sprout _wings_?" Lance shouted as he emerged from the other side of the castle with Keith in tow.

Shiro turned his head and looked down at Lance with the crushing weight of a planet. " _Wait a tick. Are you telling me that you two were apart of this?_ " Shiro said with no hidden amount of severity. Lance was very quickly learning what it meant to have a target on his head.

"Wait! No! I dragged them into this!" Courage slowly returned into Serenity's voice. Taking this as their cue to leave, Keith grabbed Lance haphazardly by the collar and unceremoniously dragged him away from the scene.

"Trust me," Keith said to Lance under his breath, "better leave it to Serenity to tame the beast before he gets his claws on us." Lance immediately quieted down afterwards.

"Serenity, why in all the worlds would you risk your life like that?" Shiro asked as he crossed his arms, seemingly in frustration. Secretly, he did so as he couldn't trust to keep his hands to himself, desperately yearning to wrap his arms around her soft form and never let go.

"I hate feeling so helpless," Serenity head dropped, avoiding Shiro's intense gaze. "You're always on the front lines so you'll never feel what it's like to be the one left behind." Shiro flinched at her statement.

Tears burned at the back of Serenity's eyes. "I had to watch Shura leave to fight to protect me as I sat there powerless, chained to the walls of the Galran prison. I couldn't even be in the front lines as my home crumbled under the Galra."

"Serenity…" her name fell as a whisper as Shiro brought his non-Galran hand up to her face, feeling a warm tear wet his fingers. "Shura and I protect you because we _want_ to. You are not forcing our hands."

The blonde princess raised her hand hand to place atop Shiro's, pressing his warmth into her tearful face. "I want to fight."

Determination strengthened her voice. "I don't want to be locked away like some precious treasure as more planets fall victim to the Galran Empire."

The blues in her eyes hardened into smoldering sapphires. "I want to fight alongside you, Shiro."

A wave of pride crashed into Shiro even as his limbs hung paralyzed in shock at the implication of Serenity's words. He never saw the blonde Lunarian as weak in the little time that he had known her. It could only take strength to last under the torturous hold of the Galran hands. But to find the courage to rise up against the monsters that crushed one's spirit, that was a kind of strength that could only be found within oneself—not learned on any training field. For the first time, Shiro saw himself reflected in the stalwart eyes of this moon princess he found, trapped within the wreckage of the Galran ship.

"Alright then," Shiro said in affirmation and Serenity let out the biggest sigh of relief, finally allowing her heart to relax in her chest.

"There are better ways to train than throwing yourself off the castle though." The Paladin smiled down the princess who never failed to surprise him. Shiro moved his eyes to the wings proudly spread high behind the beautiful Lunarian. The sight took his breath away. The wings reminded him of the swans he would see take flight on the lake he would go to on his days off from Garrison life. Feathers were still softly raining down around them, giving the scene an ethereal feel to it. His mind could still barely comprehend where he was-millions of lightyears away from Earth about to take a literal angel under his wing.


End file.
